Wages of Sin
by D. M. Evans
Summary: He hasn’t lost enough of his humanity to blind him to his responsibilities.
1. Chapter 1

Wages of Sin

Author – cornerofmadness

Disclaimer- never has been mine, all rights belong to Arakawa

Timeline/Spoilers – technically set a very long time before the start of the series and draws heavily from Hohenheim's history in chapters 74-75 so very spoilery for them

Pairing – Hohenheim/O.C.

Summary – He hasn't lost enough of his humanity to blind him to his responsibilities.

Word count – 7089

Author's Note – written for the fma_fic_contest for the prompt 'sin.' I've been wanting to write young Hoheheim ever since he first cropped up in chapter 74. This isn't quite what I originally had in mind but it was the story he wanted to tell.

Warning – I guess original characters might warrant a warning since a lot of people don't care for them. Then again, you sort of have to expect them since this is taking place - centuries? Longer? - before the beginning of the main story (has the actual date on the disappearance of Xerxes been documented?)

Author's Note #2 – While this did run as one long piece for the contest, I'm breaking it in two here. It'll be easier to deal with (for those who prefer to wait until all chapters are up, there will be only two and both will go up this week)

Chapter One

His feet ached, fine blisters having turned into massive sole-covering ones miles ago. Von Hohenheim stumbled across the cold desert, wishing he hadn't had the misfortune of trying to cross to the nearest city at the tail end of fall. In the day, the temperature still soared to levels that made traveling dangerous but at night, the heat bled off, leaving behind a bitter cold.

Xerxes had died and it was his fault. The decision to give the king immortality hadn't been his but he couldn't help think that the homunculus had somehow been egged on by him. After all, it had been created out of his blood, absorbing his imperfect nature. In spite of the creature's claims all those years ago, he wasn't stupid. Hohenheim suspected the thing had manipulated him for years, teaching him to be something other than a slave, waiting, biding its time until it could use him to forge what it most desired: a body that could roam free of its flask.

He shuddered against the cold, against the press of memory. All those bodies, so many of them, surrounding him. Hohenheim couldn't grasp that day where everything changed. It flittered away like rain into the desert sand. He remembered hitting his knees, shrieking until he felt something tear inside his throat, then nothing until the buzz of flies and the stench of rotting flesh drove him from the place he had hidden within himself. The homunculus, his twin now, was gone. Picking up the shattered pieces of his mind, Hohenheim tried to mend himself, setting off after the thing but he wasn't sure exactly where it had gone, not to mention it had a big head start.

He had pushed hard but on foot the going was rough. All the horses were dead along with all the people. Now, his food and water were at their limits. He had passed through two towns, ones he remembered from his master's plans. They were as dead as Xerxes, their lives bundled into his soul, altering him in ways he hadn't dreamed possible. He would tear them free, even if it cost him his life, if only he could do it. Hohenheim's changed body had healed at first, his sore muscles fading into normalcy as he slept, blisters from wear and from the sun smoothing out almost as fast as they cropped up but now, his body was slower to recover. He was too exhausted, too hungry and thirsty. Immortality was one thing, invinciblity another as he was fast finding out. He had taken a bad fall two days back, breaking his body in a way nothing still _human_ would have survived. It took many hours of painful popping and knitting together but his bones straightened and strengthened and he was on his way again.

Unstoppable, the sun inched toward its zenith. Hohenheim knew he would have to stop, pitch his shelter and wait it out. His belly rumbled and he unconsciously wet chapped, burnt lips. Ahead he spotted a tree so he stumbled that direction. It wouldn't be much shade but some was better than nothing. A sweet scent filled the air as he got closer. Figs! He had found a fig tree but what could have made it set fruit out of season? His golden eyes narrowed thinking of one creature with power enough for that but he didn't care at the moment. Gorging himself on the delicious fruit, Hohenheim set up his camp and collapsed into its shade, his belly full and aching.

After three days of nothing but figs, he was sick to death of them. Worse, they were nearly gone and what little moisture he gleaned from them wasn't enough. Then there was the gastrointestinal distress all that fruit had put him through. He hadn't imagined suffering like this, not even when his Master experimented on him. The Philosopher Stone, this thing he had become, kept repairing the damage that should have killed him days ago so he didn't die. It didn't mean, however, that he was immune to delirium.

Hohenheim knew he was slipping. He had to fight to retain his sense of purpose, to reverse the sin he had inadvertently helped give birth to. More and more every time he blinked, he was back in Xerxes, the market place bustling, his fellow slaves joking with him, everyone full of life. He never saw the ravine until he fell down it, the rocks robbing him of the last of his sense.

XXXX

When he managed to pry his eyes open, Hohenheim slowly became aware that he was out of the sun, resting on something comfortable. He blinked against the bright light streaming through the window. Window? Startled, he sat up, making a young woman yelp, nearly knocking over the mortar she was crushing something in. Hohenheim studied her, realizing she was too well dressed to be a slave like himself. Cloth, the color of the sapphire ring he had seen on the king's finger, draped off her, revealing hints of cinnamon skin. Her eyes, like fresh dark cherries, observed him right back, a keen intelligence gleaming in them.

"Who are you?" His voice was a rough croak. "Where am I?"

Smiling, she stood and fetched a pitcher, pouring a cup of water. Nestling into the crook of his hip, she pressed it to his lips. With a shaking hand, Hohenheim took it from her. "This is my home. Some of the children who gather herbs and other things I need found you in the desert. I had you brought back here. This is Avanti and I'm Lilavati. The more important question is who are you and what were you doing out in the desert alone? I'm not sure how you survived the fall you took."

"Twen…" he shook his head, sipping more water. He couldn't believe he had almost slipped up that badly. He had to be very disoriented to revert back to his childhood designation. He hadn't been that number in years. "Von Hohenheim." He greedily drained the rest of the mug. "Why did you bring me here?"

"Would you rather I have left you out for the scavengers to finish?" She brushed his greasy hair back. "Easy on the water. You'll make yourself sick." Lilavati got up to fetch him more but not before yanking on a bell pull.

Hohenheim wasn't sure what to make of her. In Xerxes, very few women were their own person. She obviously had money judging on the size of the room, the things in it and her clothing. That didn't mean she wasn't the wife of a wealthy man but she had said it was her home, her servants. "Your home has a …lab?" he phrased the question slowly, wondering if it would give offense.

"My home has many things," she replied enigmatically as the door opened and a young girl came in. "Padma, please go fetch some beef tea for our guest."

"Yes ma'am." The girl disappeared as quickly as she came.

"My father was a trader and alchemist, very successful in both parts of his life except for one thing. I was his only child." Lilavanti's shrewd eyes fixed on Hohenheim again. "He never treated me like some empty-headed chit. I learned his businesses and in spite of my age and my sex, they take me seriously. I'm good at what I do."

"If I implied otherwise, I apologize." Hohenheim lay back on the cot, wanting to shut his eyes and sleep for a lifetime. "I've studied a bit of alchemy as well. It's why I asked about the lab."

"Then bringing you here might have hidden benefits." A light smile touched her full lips. "I notice you haven't answered my question. Why were you out in the desert?"

"I was following someone. He hurt people I cared about it and needs to pay for it," Hohenheim replied with more vehemence than he expected.

Her face hardened. "Where are you from? Will someone be looking for you?"

He glanced away. "There is no one left. The whole city is gone, thanks to him."

Lilavanti rolled that information around then inclined her head to the side, making her blue veil ruffle, a hint of walnut hair showing under it. "You mean Xerxes or maybe Ozymandias."

"Xerxes," Hohenheim muttered.

Her shrewd scrutiny deepened. "You're an alchemist?"

He nodded. He wasn't sure if he could pass himself off as anything but a slave but he was going to try. Everyone who'd known that he was one had died and the brand on his hip wasn't likely to be seen. "Apprenticed."

"I'll be looking forward to seeing what you can do," Lilavanti said, turning as the door to the lab opened. She got up and took the cup off the tray Padma carried. "Thank you." Taking the dismissal, the serving girl left and Lilavanti sat next to Hohenheim again as he struggled back up into a sitting position. "Here, this should fortify you a bit."

The scent of beef broth and onion perked Hohenheim up. He sipped greedily at the beef tea, wanting to tell her that he could handle something more substantial but he didn't. Nothing human could have fallen as he had, lain in the desert and still be in the good shape he really was in. He was content to play the invalid for a day or two. At this point, he was so far behind the homunculus, it hardly mattered. He had no idea if this was even the way the thing had fled.

"What does this man look like?" Lilavanti asked wisely. "I can have wanted posters hung in the square."

Hohenheim shook his head. "He's my…twin." What else was there to do but claim that kinship? The thing looked like him now. "Hanging my face there wouldn't do me much good."

"No, I suppose not." She took the mug from his hand as he fumbled to set it aside. "Sleep. I doubt my studies here will interrupt you."

Hohenheim wanted to say that he wasn't tired, that he had too many questions and worries to sleep. Instead, he let her settle him back against the cot and cover him with a thin sheet, intending to voice his questions once she was safely across the room where she couldn't mother him. He didn't even manage to stay awake long enough for her to get there.

XXX

The undeniable urge to urinate woke Hohenheim up. He managed to get to his feet which had been bound up with soft bandages. The movement caught Lilavanti's eyes. She turned, giving him a curious look. "Are you feeling better?"

He nodded. "I need…" A blush crept up his face in danger of setting his beard on fire.

"You've been asleep nearly a day, I'm sure you do. There's a privy through that door." She pointed across her lab into the darkest corner.

Hohenheim took care of his body's needs then took his time poking around the lab. Lilavanti didn't say anything to him as if content to let him learn about her by learning about her art. He immediately identified a few alembic glass arrangements and knew what she was trying to accomplish. Other items surprised him and he wanted to know what they did. The sun was no longer streaming from the window but he looked out any how just to see what there was to see of Avanti. His jaw dropped. He was no longer in the desert but rather seemed to be in the foothills of the mountains. He had seem them at the edge of the desert as he walked but hadn't realized in his delirium how far he had come.

"We're in the hills?"

She nodded. "Actually more literally than you know. A portion of my home is built into the mountain itself, cooling and protective. Do you feel up for a small tour?"

He grinned. "That would be very nice." He followed Lilavanti, thinking that this estate was much like the one he spent his life on, enormous, filled with the finest of things and any number of slaves to keep it all running. He passed two of them polishing the stone staircase as it spiraled down deeper into the structure. "You have a lot of…help here."

"I employ a lot of servants," she agreed.

"Employ?"

Intelligent garnet eyes studied him too intently as she paused in her tour. "I dislike slavery." Her gaze swept over his ragged clothing. "Did you tell me the truth, Hohenheim? Are you an alchemist or as you a slave? I won't send you back if you are, not that there is anyplace to send you to."

He looked down at the mosaic under his feet. "I'm an apprentice alchemist. My master did die," he whispered, almost wanting to trust this woman with the truth but there was so much pain inside him that even he hadn't acknowledgeable to himself, let alone share.

Lilavanti scowled. "I am sorry. It has to be hard, knowing your brother is to blame but how could he have taken out so many cities at once? Whole cities disappearing in one day? Was it alchemy?"

"Of the worst kind," His fists clenched. "I won't talk about that. It's nothing that should even be whispered about, let alone written down."

Her strong hand touched his elbow. "I have no intentions of that."

In slow measures, his body relaxed. "Good." He looked askance at her. "Sorry if I sound like I'm giving you orders. I don't mean to. I just wanted…." He sighed.

"If this alchemy you're referencing destroyed whole cities, I want nothing to do with it. I agree, it should be hidden away for all time. That is too much of a temptation."

"Agreed," Hohenheim said strongly.

Lilavanti patted his arm again. "Let me show you more of my home."

He followed obediently. Hohenheim wasn't expecting anything like this when Lilavanti led him through a door. He had smelled the minerals in the hallways and thought maybe she was leading him to another lab. Instead, it opened to a private hot spring. "What is this place?" He glanced around, looking at the table and chairs set off in one corner and the large slab of marble at the edge of the pool, like a sacrificial altar.

"A hot spring bath. I thought you might enjoy it. Asha will be along shortly to help."

Hohenheim flushed at that idea and felt a little mortified at the same time. That they were cutting the tour short so he could bathe suggested one thing; he stank. "Help me? I can bathe by myself."

She tsked at him. "It's not just a bath. It's an experience. I'll be back for you when it's done. Strip down. There are towels there."

Still blushing, he watched her go. He hadn't bathed since the day everyone died or changed his clothing. Once his senses came back to him, he had taken off with the clothes on his back after the homunculus. Any water he found in the desert wasn't about to be wasted on bathing. He decided not to wait for Asha. Maybe once he was wet she'd just let him bathe himself. Besides, he was utterly filthy. He was ashamed to have anyone see him.

Stripping down, Hohenheim splashed into the spring, stunned by the heat of it. A cloud of grey rippled away from his reddening skin. He was very glad he hadn't let anyone see how dirty he was. Still, that didn't stop him from blushing when he heard someone say, "You were supposed to wait."

In contrast to the young Padma, Asha was old enough to be his mother with strong looking arms and hands. She beckoned to him then patted the marble slab. "Lie down."

Frowning, Hohenheim got out of the water, wondering if he tried to shield parts of himself with a hand if this woman would be offended. After all, she did this as part of her job. Also, he had no desire to leave the nice hot water to lie on a cold piece of marble. To his surprise, the waters below seemed to have heated the stone.

"There you go, just lie back and let your muscles relax," she said, holding up a fluffy towel. She draped it not over his privates but his eyes. "I'll be back soon."

Hohenheim waited for a few moments before peeling up the towel. Asha seemed to be gone. He knew this was a very bad idea but he hadn't known how to dissuade Lilavanti, especially since he so obviously needed it. Asha would see the brand his master put on his hip as a boy and tell Lilavanti. He would have to confess that he lied about being a slave. Hohenheim rubbed at his hip, shocked upright when he didn't feel the roughened skin that had been part of him almost all his life.

His skin was smooth, pink from the heat, but otherwise unmarked. He hadn't really taken the time to do more than drop his trousers as the demands of his body dictated. He hadn't noticed the brand had apparently healed, just one more gift from the homunculus? Hohenheim hated to think about it but it would at least work for him. He settled back on the stone, putting the towel back over his face. He sweated but at least it wasn't from fear. Still, there was the feel of being a slice of bacon in a pan lying on the stone like he was.

Without warning hot, sudsy water dropped all over him. Sputtering, Hohenheim flailed around but Asha caught hold of him, scrubbing even as he squirmed. Taking the towel off, he glared at her but she wasn't even look at him as she rubbed him roughly with a wide towel. He simply relaxed and tried to tell himself this was supposed to be a treat, not a punishment. She scooped up a bucket of steaming spring water and dumped it on him as a rinse.

Asha pointed to a niche in the shallow end of the pool. "Go have a seat."

"I'm not clean enough?" He was fairly sure she had cleaned his skin off down to muscle.

"We're not done."

A little too frightened of this woman to disobey, Hohenheim slunk into the water and awaited his fate. He slipped further down into the pool at her command and to his surprise, she started massaging his feet under the warm water. As Asha slowly worked her way up, any erotic reactions he feared might pop up, were chased away by the pain of his tight, superbly overworked muscles yielding to the strength in her hands. He was as insubstantial as the steam rising from the pool when she was done.

Hohenheim had barely finished pulling on his clothing, which he had noticed was no longer stinking rags but some nondescript trousers and tunic probably offered up by a house servant, when Lilavanti came back in.

She smiled at him. "Feel better?"

"Much," he said, though he felt a little like a wrung out rag. "Thank you."

She beckoned him to follow. "Let's finish the tour."

Hohenheim had to wonder, once again, why she was being so kind to him and why was she showing him everything. He waited until she took him to the observation tower before asking. "You have an amazing house. This room alone is magnificent for keeping record of the stars but why show it to me?"

Her garnet eyes regarded him studiously for several long moments before she replied. "I thought you would appreciate what I have here and what I could make of it with my alchemy."

That wasn't a response he had been expected. "It sounds as if you'd like me to stay."

"For a while, perhaps. You said you weren't sure where your twin might have gone. I can help you and you and I can compare notes, teach each other," she replied.

He studied her for a moment. "But you don't know me. How do you know I'm not dangerous?"

"I suppose that I don't." Her lips pulled back in a smile utterly devoid of warmth. "But I do know that I am dangerous."

Hohenheim spread his hands. "I believe you." And he did, very much so. He had never been so intrigued by someone. "Thank you for letting me stay. I accept your offer."

Summer displaced the winter in her face. "Oh good. Then I suppose we should find you a guest room and some clothing of your own."

"I don't have money to pay for rent or clothing," he flushed.

"Don't worry. You'll be working off your debt." Those red eyes glittered like rubies in sunlight.

Somehow that made Hohenheim just a touch nervous.


	2. Chapter 2

namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"  
name="PlaceName" downloadurl="http://www./"/ namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"  
name="place" downloadurl="http://www./"/ !--[if gte mso 9]xml  
o:DocumentProperties  
o:AuthorDana Evans/o:Author  
o:TemplateNormal/o:Template  
o:LastAuthorDana Evans/o:LastAuthor  
o:Revision1/o:Revision  
o:TotalTime9/o:TotalTime  
o:Created2009-04-01T02:04:00Z/o:Created  
o:LastSaved2009-04-01T03:05:00Z/o:LastSaved  
o:Pages1/o:Pages  
o:Words3049/o:Words  
o:Characters17384/o:Characters  
o:CompanyEvans Inc./o:Company  
o:Lines144/o:Lines  
o:Paragraphs40/o:Paragraphs  
o:CharactersWithSpaces20393/o:CharactersWithSpaces  
o:Version11.5606/o:Version  
/o:DocumentProperties  
/xml![endif]-- Dana Evans Normal Dana Evans 1 9 2009-04-01T02:04:00Z 2009-04-01T03:05:00Z 1 3049 17384 Evans Inc. 144 40 20393 11.5606 Clean Clean false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

Hohenheim hated the complacency that had settled over him since coming to Lilavanti's home. The first few days he submitted to his body's demands to rest. He should have gone after the homunculus then but he hadn't the first clue where to go. The thing wasn't human. Had it absorbed enough of him to give it some of his weaknesses? Hohenheim wasn't betting on it.

Lilavanti had promised she had people with their ears to the ground listening for leads but so far nothing. He had spent his time with Lilavanti, at least when she wasn't attending to her spice import business. She was amazingly smart and so very intuitive about alchemy in ways his master could only dream about.

And there had been frightening changes within him. Hohenheim had been aware of his physical changes but as he spent the last two weeks working alchemy with Lilavanti he realized he didn't need books. He didn't even need an array. Everything Lilavanti showed him, things he had never seen his master do, were already there in his head. Hiding that from her was difficult.

That might be just another reason to move on. What might she think of him if she knew what he was now? He had been here going on three weeks and while he could tell himself it was because he lost track of the homunculus, Hohenheim really knew it was because he wanted to stay near Lilavanti.

He headed out to the courtyard, thinking he might just keep on walking. It was selfish and wrong of him to remain here. He doubted there was anyone other than him who could stop the homunculus. It was unfair for him to hole up here, enjoying himself. And what could he possibly offer to Lilavanti? His slave brand might have disappeared from his hip but what his master had done to him hadn't similarly faded.

Hohenheim had to confess some of the thoughts in his mind has less to do with alchemy and everything to do with the glimpses he stole of tanned skin and the sweet spicy smell of her. Shuddering at the memories, Hohenheim remembered his first pathetic attempts with a slave girl. His master had beat him mercilessly, leaving him bloody for risking impregnating a slave of her importance to the household.

Later, the master thought better of things, once the homunculus started talking to Hohenheim, teaching him things. He moved from something the master experimented on to a creature of the same importance as the lead stallion. His Master had given him to various slave girls with the express purpose of making him more children with his talents to experiment on. Mostly it had been a failure. The mere idea of what could happen to his children had left him flaccid more often than not.

Pushing Lilavanti and the thoughts that young men often entertained about women out of his mind, Hohenheim tried to think like a homunculus. Where would the creature go?

"Von?"

He turned, seeing Lilavanti. Dressed for going out, she rivaled the sun in her yellow wrapped gown that was bordered with a rich purple. Had that been the shade she was working on in the lab? It was beautiful. No, _she_ was beautiful, with her hair finally loosened from the stern braid she usually wore it in. "Yes?"

"Come with me to town. I got word that someone might have seen your twin."

He bolted up. If he had ever been taught religion – something of no concern to slaves – Hohenheim would have thought this divine intervention. "Finally!"

"Eager to leave my company." She arched her eyebrow.

He flushed, stammering, "No…it's just…I have to find and stop him."

"I'd be sorry to see you go," she said after a moment's thought.

Hohenheim flushed even brighter. "Thank you. I've not been eager to leave but I have responsibilities to attend to."

She touched his hand. "I know. Shall we?"

"Of course."

Hohenheim always found himself oddly shy in the bustling marketplace. It wasn't as if he was new to the crowds, the tantalizing smells and the loud noises. But to the vendors he had always been just Number Twenty-Three or Achan's slave. He knew how migratory some vendors were. All he needed was for someone to call out Slave Twenty-three and accidentally answer.

He appreciated that Lilavanti seemed to be all business, not dallying at all as she cut a path through the market square. That was until she stopped at one stand. She nodded at the vendor then picked up two big dates.

"I love dates. They taste like captured sunlight." Lilavanti pressed one to Hohenheim's lips and he ate it obediently. "You look like sunlight with that hair and those wonderful eyes of yours, Von."

"We're gold and rubies," he replied, delighted she was flirting with him and at the same time angry with himself because he shouldn't be getting this close to anyone.

Lilavanti popped the second date into her mouth, rolling her eyes up. "Delicious. I'll be back on my way home," she assured the vendor before heading back off into the crowd.

Hohenheim followed her into a permanent store front of a cloth merchant. She didn't stop to look at any of the bright, cheery bolts. Instead, she headed to the back of the store where a grey haired man worked on a tally sheet spread out on a desk.

"Miss Agashe." He grinned upon seeing her. "I see you got my message."

"Thank you, Mr. Mompou, I did."

The merchant glanced past her, spotting Hohenheim and his eyes widened. "I guess my information isn't necessary. You already found him."

Hohenheim shook his head. "No, that was my twin. I'm trying to find him."

"I saw him three nights ago in Salt Mine," Mompou said. "In the market. I have no idea if he's still there."

Hohenheim held up his hands. "That's all right. This is more than enough. It gives me a place to start. Thank you very much."

"You're welcome."

"Do you know what he was doing there?" Hohenheim asked hopefully. He feared knowing the answer.

The older man shrugged. "I'm afraid not. He just seemed to be browsing the various stalls. Is there anything I can do for you, Miss Agashe?"

"No, this was plenty. Thank you. I'll send Padme over to pick up some new bolts of cloth," she said, making Mompou happy.

Lilavanti led Hohenheim out, studying his face but she waited until she bought loads of dates, lemon-soaked olives and olive oil – all carried by him. He was half-thankful for his slave-born muscles- before she said anything to him. "You're going to leave."

"I have to."

She didn't reply. Hohenheim's heart felt heavier than the packages he toted.

XXX

Hohenheim sat on the balcony of his guest room. He gazed out over the mountains, watching shadows play on them as the clouds danced around the moon. He should be packing but he didn't know what he should take. Everything he now had had been given to him by Lila. Should he take it? Offer her some sort of payment? And what did he think he was going to use for money? A knock on the door surprised him. Going back into the bedroom, he opened the door. "Lila?"

"I'm coming with you," she said without preamble.

"You can't!" he replied shocked.

"You don't get to decide what I do, Hohenheim," she reminded him primly. "Have you ever been to Salt Mine before?"

"No, but…"

"I'm a spice merchant. I have a large holding in that town. I know it well. No one will think twice about me being there. I'll be an asset."

He took her hand. "You don't understand, Lilavanti. He's dangerous. I don't want to put you at risk."

"I'm not an idiot, Hohenheim. If he destroyed Xerxes and several other cities in one night with his alchemy, how could he be anything other than dangerous? I do understand why you feel you have to chase after him."

"I'm responsible for him." Hohenheim sighed, seeing in her eyes his chances of dissuading her and she was right. He could use her help. "Why are you doing this?"

She ran a hand up his cheek, her fingers digging in his beard. "isn't it obvious?"

Feeling his cheeks getting hot, Hohenheim stepped back a pace. "I…uh…you can't mean…"

"Why not? Because I'm rich and you, no matter what you say, are a slave?" Lilavanti caught hold of his hand again. "There's no one here to keep you in that role. Asha said you don't have a brand on you."

"Then why are you so sure that I am?" he whispered.

"Because of a hundred different little things. I don't care about that, Hohenheim. It would be a waste of talent to let you be anything other than an alchemist. Consider this the beginning of your new life." Her lips brushed against his.

He considered protesting. Instead, he tasted deeply of her sweet lips, letting her guide him back to the bed.

X X X

Hohenheim was glad he agreed to bring Lilavanti with him under the pretense of her business. He would have been lost in Salt Mine. Finding the homunculus, however, proved to be trickier than he had hoped. Half the clues they got were actually sightings of him.

"I actually do have to go to the spice market," Lilavanti said apologetically. She drew his chin down so she could kiss him. She scrubbed a finger over his beard. "What can I do to convince you to lose this thing?"

"A proper man needs a good beard," he retorted. "Go, handle your business. I think I've got a sense of the town by now. I'll check on that lead down at the river front. That's once place I know I've not been."

"Be careful and think about it. That thing scratches and my skin is delicate." She smiled at him before disappearing into the market crowd, leaving him red-faced.

Hohenheim took a few steps then stopped, feeling something odd. It felt familiar yet somehow sickening as if the air had gone foul. Glancing around, he tried to figure out why such a think would feel even the least bit familiar but his mind skittered around the idea. Seeing nothing tremendously out of the ordinary for a marketplace, he headed for the river.

He scoured the area for hours but found nothing. He was returning to the small home she maintained in this town with thoughts of taking Lilavanti somewhere for dinner when a small boy ran up to him.

The child held out a scrap of paper. "Someone paid me to give this to you." His eyes were wide with wonder at the idea of having coin in hand.

Hohenheim read it, figuring it was another dead end. Someone claimed he could find the homunculus at some temple. He had no idea where it was. "Boy, do you know where the temple of Ishbala is?"

He bobbed his head. "That's on the edge of town. They're just building it. My dad says they're all crazy, worshipping some new god. The real gods are gonna be mad about it."

Hohenheim just hummed noncommitantly. He dug in his pocket and gave the boy a wooden coin before heading off. The temple, as it turned out, wasn't much of one. Only a foundation and part of two walls existed. Behind it was a sprawl of woods. That sickeningly familiar sensation struck him again. He followed it into the woods, stopping seeing his own face grinning back at him. The homunculus lounged atop a mossy, flat-topped boulder. Lilavanti lay dazed at the base of the rock, her face bloodied.

"Lilavanti!" Hohenheim cried then realized he had given himself away from the huge grin slithering across the homunculus' face.

"You care about this fragile thing?" His mirror-image cocked its head to one side. "Don't lie,Von Hohenheim. I've known you for years. You lie terribly."

"Von," Lilavanti tried to sit up. "Where…"

"If you can, Lilavanti, get out of here," Hohenheim said, thinking madly. He wasn't a fighter, something he hadn't considered until now. Hell, he realized how poorly he had prepared for this day. What was he expecting? The homunculus wasn't going to go back into a flask willingly, even if it was possible. Slaves weren't trained to fight. Hohenheim suddenly understood he could lose.

A shadowy hand slithered out of the homunculus, snaring Lilavanti. "I don't think she'll be going anywhere. I think I might like to kill her."

"Why?" Hohenheim's voice rasped. "You said you owed me. Why would you want to take someone I care about from me?"

Homunculus grinned. "To see what it feels like."

"You've already killed whole cities. You know what this feels like," Hohenheim argued.

Clawing at the inky 'fingers' holding her, Lilavanti's eyes rolled wildly. "What is he, Von?"

"A created human."

"I'm better than human," the homunculus hissed.

"He's nothing but a thing…a homunculus that my master created out of my blood. The cities that disappeared, the King wanted immortality. This thing promised it to him but the arrays built around those cities were all to bring him forth in this form." Hohenheim didn't take his eyes off the homunculus as he gestured to it. "It's not really alive."

"I disagree," the homunculus said. "I'm as alive as you are though I suppose you're not really alive in any human sense of the word. Reborn is a better term for you."

Hohenheim couldn't bring himself to look at Lilavanti, knowing this thing had just ruined it all. "Don't make her suffer for my sins."

The homunculus' eyes widened. "Sins? I've heard people talk of them before and I don't understand them or how they apply here."

"You wouldn't. You're nothing. I let you get inside my head, whispering things I wanted to hear and I inadvertently helped you," Hohenheim said. "To sin you have to feel emotions first, some of our emotions make us very strong, others weak. Lust can take you to heights or make you lose everything. Envy has ruined kings."

"Funny you should mention those two first. Lust, isn't that what's driving you to protect this woman?" The homunculus smirked at him. "And envy is what got you into this mess. You wanted my knowledge and I wanted your freedom, such as it was, _slave_ ."

"What would you know of desire?"

"Von, don't provoke it!" Lilavanti said, bracing her feet against the boulder, pushing ineffectively as she struggled.

"I know everything you do, Von Hohenheim. I am made from your blood after all. I _feel _all those things but I see no purpose in them. I need to be better…purer than some base human." The homunculus scratched at its beard casually as its shadow-arm lifted Lilavanti and slammed her back into the ground. "You were such a dumb young thing but I was lucky you were clever, too. But children should achieve more than their parents, shouldn't they? I'll never do that with an anchor weighing me down."

The thing's eyes dulled as if no longer seeing what was around him so Hohenheim took his chance. Things spun through his mind, all the knowledge the homunculus had given to him when it converted him into this thing Hohenheim was. Fire, no, Lilavanti was too close. Wind, yes that might work. Summoning the air currents, shifting their flow, Hohenheim flung his arms out toward his twin. The power flowed clumsily and nowhere near as controlled as Hohenheim had pictured it. The homunculus sidestepped it, barely getting ruffled. Lilavanti screamed.

"Try that again and I'll crush her." The homunculus glanced down at her. "And I so want to try to use her. Let's call her an experiment, Von Hohenheim." Thick reddish tears trickled down the creature's face, like syrup in winter. He leaned forward as if to drip it on Lilavanti. "Let's see if she can absorb all my lust."

"No!"

Hohenheim threw himself forward, shielding Lilavanti's body with his own. The liquid philosopher stone – since surely that had to be what it was – imbued with a twisted version of his own emotions, hit his arm and repelled off onto the forest floor. It wanted nothing to do with him. The homunculus stepped down off the rock, sliding its big toe off the side of it sandal to dip it in the ruby puddle. It reabsorbed its essence.

"You won't stop me, Von Hohenheim. You've sparked an idea in me. What an experiment it'll be." The homunculus smiled.

"I _will_ stop you," Hohenheim countered, getting up, only he wasn't fast enough. The shadowy bits of the homunculus gelled into spears, piercing Hohenheim's body, stunning him. Lilavanti screamed and picked up a stout length of fallen tree branch. She bashed the homunculus with it but it swept her away as if she were nothing. Hohenheim slammed his foot down into the loam and the earth swelled up, engulfing the homunculus. He started to squeeze it when he heard Lilavanti's moan.

Letting the alchemy flag, Hohenheim turned to her, touching her shoulder. "You're hurt."

Pain-glazed eyes gazed up at him. "Why aren't you dead?"

"Later. I'll tell you later." Hohenheim wanted to finish killing the homunculus but wasn't sure that would be an easy task. He didn't know how badly Lilavanti was hurt so he sat down with her, taking her hands in his. He slipped into his memory, dragging forward healing alchemy. Her bones and torn flesh knitted under his will. Hohenheim didn't have to spend time on his own wounds. They healed of their own accord.

Hearing something cracking behind him, Hohenheim twisted. The homunculus dragged itself out of the earth. It stared at him, as if it hadn't understood before that it could be hurt. Hohenheim had a choice, continue to heal Lilavanti or try to kill the homunculus. He knew he wasn't ready for the latter. He still had so much to learn but he wanted to try. Lilavanti wouldn't die if he took a momentary break. Hohenheim gathered his wits, calculating his next move but his slight hesitation gave the homunculus all the time it needed.

A wave tore through the ground, bearing down on Hohenheim and Lilavanti. He managed to throw up a rocky shield, barely in time. Rocked back and dazed, by the time Hohenheim gathered his scrambled senses, he and Lilavanti were alone in the woods. He couldn't take off after the thing and leave her still half-healed and barely conscious. Hohenheim picked her up and started back to her home.

XXX

Hohenheim had debated just leaving Lilavanti at a healer's to look out for her and going after the homunculus then abandoned the idea. First, he would need to learn to fight. He wasn't a match for the creature and if he died, there would be no one to stand against it. As much as he hated letting it escape, there hadn't been much choice. At least he wasn't too far behind now and anyone the homunculus killed would be one more sin on Hohenheim's head. Hearing Lilavanti stirring on the bed behind him, he turned away from the window. "Are you feeling all right?" He felt like an idiot for asking. Surely she had to be terrified of him now. Why she wasn't screaming in fear and throwing things at him he didn't know.

"Sore and tired but…" Lilavanti sat up, testing her arms then her legs. "I'll live." Her ruby eyes fixed on him. "But how did you? Are you a homunculus, too?"

He shook his head, leaning heavily against the wall. "I'm just a human, slave to the man who made that thing but when the homunculus did what it did in Xerxes, it changed me. I heal fast," he said, not willing to admit that he was the Philosopher Stone. He cared about Lilavanti but he couldn't quite trust anyone with that information. Too many people would want to use it for purposes he'd rather not think about. "I'll go, if you want me to. I know I have to frighten you."

"That _thing_ frightened me. You do not." Her voice was soft yet stern. "I'm intrigued but not frightened. How do you kill something that is technically not alive?"

His shoulders slumped and Hohenheim ran a hand through his long hair. "I have no idea which is why I didn't chase after it when I got you to safety. Slaves aren't taught to fight. That thing has the advantage. I need to learn to fight, to deal with all the alchemic knowledge it crammed into my head."

"I can help you on both accounts." Unsteadily, Lilavanti swung out of bed, crossing over to him.

He eyed her uncertainly, catching her around the waist protectively. "You?"

"With the alchemy at any rate." She tapped his chest. "I'm a spice merchant, remember? Do you think my caravans go out with a lot of armed guards?"

"I guess not."

"I have men who can train you to fight." Her eyes turned downcast. "Do you have time for that?"

Sighing, Hohenheim nodded. "I hope so." He brushed a kiss over her cheek. "You have already helped me more than you know."

"Now we see the reason I felt compelled to keep you around when my boys found you at the desert's edge." She smiled. "Things happen for a reason."

Logically, Hohenheim would have liked to argue that but couldn't think of any reason why. Maybe she was right so he simply held her tight. They would go back home and he would improve himself. The next time he met with the homunculus, things would go differently.


End file.
